Egg

Rosa Parks' "Featherlite" Peanut Butter Pancakes

by:
February 25, 2016
4.4
5 Ratings
Rosa Parks' "Featherlite" Peanut Butter Pancakes
Photo by Bobbi Lin
  • Makes 5 large pancakes
Author Notes

Recipe slightly edited from the version digitized in the Library of Congress's collection. —Food52

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 1 tablespoon shortening, melted, or any neutral oil, like canola
Directions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a separate, medium mixing bowl, combine the egg, whole milk, and peanut butter. Whisk together the wet ingredients until combined (it's ok if there are still some grains of peanut butter).
  2. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  3. Add the shortening or oil to a skillet and bring to 275° F. Spoon roughly one-fifth of the batter into the pan, into a roughly 4-inch pancake. Cook for about 2 minutes until bubbles form around the edges and the pancakes look dry and airy. Use a thin spatula to gently lift it and flip over to the other side. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, until cooked through and golden-brown. Repeat with the rest of the batter and serve warm.
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28 Reviews

brushjl
brushjl March 19, 2023
Delicious! My favorite pancakes ever.
 
Breadgirl
Breadgirl August 8, 2018
Made this recipe into waffles and they came out crispy and delicious!
 
mousouchop
mousouchop October 8, 2017
I made this with 2 tsp of baking powder, as that was all I had; I also typically let pancake batter rest for 30 min or so before cooking. I thought they we plenty fluffy and had no odd aftertaste. I subbed demerara sugar, as I ran out of granulated while making jam last night. Rather than oil/shortening, I cooked the pancakes in a little bit of the bacon grease (cook your bacon first<-- or use saved stuff). Instead of maple syrup, I used concord grape syrup (failed jam from the night prior). It was delicious!!
 
mousouchop
mousouchop October 10, 2017
[continued] (cook your bacon first, or use reserved stuff). I also used some botched concord grape jam as syrup. Called them "PB&J Pancakes" and absolutely am obsessed. Very good riff on a classic breakfast food. Will retain this recipe for future use!
 
Adrian C.
Adrian C. May 24, 2017
(Sorry: it was saying: Something went wrong.")
 
LULULAND
LULULAND May 24, 2017
The recipe is correct, 2 tablespoons of baking powder. Make sure it is fresh check the date. These are wonderful as written!
 
Kendall E.
Kendall E. May 20, 2017
I may try this with the self rising flower. The baking powder made these terribly bitter.
 
Adrian C.
Adrian C. May 24, 2017
I think they meant two teaspoons...
 
Towana F.
Towana F. December 30, 2016
Could you just use self-rising flour and not have to add the baking powder since several have commented about its taste?
 
Lori
Lori October 15, 2016
I wonder if the difference about the taste of baking powder is due to, differences in aluminum baking powder vs. aluminum free baking powder?
 
Towana F.
Towana F. December 30, 2016
Maybe use self-rising flour so you don't have to use the baking powder and salt?
 
LULULAND
LULULAND April 24, 2016
OMG Just made these! Light, and awesome. I only had crunchy regular peanut butter and loved the crunch. Didn't have whole milk, but cashew milk, added 1 cup of that and made up the extra cream effect with 1/4 cup of heavy cream. WORKED! I think I would reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon due to using regular peanut butter, if raw unsalted, I would maybe keep it at 1/2 teaspoon. Don't be afraid to try these, if you do you will be missing out! I wonder if Rosa made the recipe up herself, or was it handed down to her?!
 
Marie
Marie April 17, 2016
These tasted alright, although they didn't cook well. They looked almost burnt in the outside but weren't cooked all the way through on the inside.
 
elenalou
elenalou March 24, 2016
I agree on the acidic and bitter taste of the baking powder. Everything else I enjoyed--the subtle peanut butter taste and slight sweetness. But, the baking powder really hurt the flavor. What is the least amount of baking powder that can be used so that the flavor is not affected?
 
Towana F.
Towana F. December 30, 2016
Did you try self-rising flour instead, and leave out the baking powder and salt? I want to try them, but would only have self-rising flour on hand, so that's what I'd use.
 
Änneken
Änneken March 21, 2016
These pancakes held true to their name and were indeed featherlite, however, I could taste the baking powder. Also, I found them very dry. Sorry, Rosa!
 
Noa
Noa March 19, 2016
With all due respect to Rosa Parks... these had a terrible after taste from the baking powder.
 
Catfish
Catfish March 8, 2016
These are amazing. I also worried about the amount of baking powder, but it was unfounded. I used natural peanut butter and a lower-fat milk and they were perfect. Leftovers were good 2-3 days later (I had more than 5).
 
Spike
Spike February 29, 2016
Anybody tried this with natural peanut butter?
 
Lisa
Lisa February 29, 2016
I used Adams and it was great.
 
Lisa
Lisa February 29, 2016
I too was worried about the proportion of baking powder to flour, but didn't perceive any aftertaste. Really good!
 
Holly
Holly February 29, 2016
Thank you!!
 
lp
lp February 28, 2016
found this a little unwieldy with large pancakes, but silver dollar-sized turned out great! took about a minute per side to cook.
 
Mike W.
Mike W. February 28, 2016
Made Rosa Parks Butter Pancakes this morning, followed the recipe to the T. They turned out excellent! Delicious, light and flavor right on! Topped off with chopped roasted walnuts!
 
Holly
Holly February 28, 2016
2 tbsp of baking powder to one cup of flour? Won't it have a chemical after taste? Any thoughts on why it won't?
 
Mike W.
Mike W. February 28, 2016
It did not for me. I will next time sift the dry indegients together, I just whisked.
 
Paula H.
Paula H. February 28, 2016
Do you add the melted shortening to the other wet ingredients and add more to the skillet; or just add the oil, etc. to the skillet? Look delicious.
 
Mike W.
Mike W. February 28, 2016
I used the canola oil/shortening only for the skillet.